Vietnam Free Expression Newsletter No. 20/2018 – Week of May 14-20

Vietnam set to tighten clamps on Facebook and Google, threatening dissidents: “Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the government’s crackdown on online political activism. Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy.”

#MeToo, Vietnam: “Pham Ngoc Tien, director general of the gender equality department at MOLISA, agrees that harassment needs to be defined more clearly and legal consequences established. One issue is the lack of data. There are no comprehensive surveys or studies of workplace harassment in Vietnam. ‘It’s a challenge for the regulators to confirm whether these kinds of situations are ‘common’ due to the lack of official statistics and reports,’ Tien said. The lack of research, however, is not an accident, according to some advocates, who think officials and businesses would rather believe sexual harassment isn’t a problem. One Vietnamese expert on gender issues, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, said conversations about sexual harassment policy are stifled by a general preference for maintaining appearances. ‘About sexual harassment, or domestic violence, I think the government always wants people to be patient,’ they said. ‘Patient and silent, to help society seem very peaceful. They don’t want people to speak out.'”

Imprisoned, threatened, silenced: human rights workers across Asia are in danger: “Bogus accusations of abetting terrorism are a common justification that we hear from governments to defend the targeting of the UN’s important civil society partners. We have countless cases of advocates charged with terrorism, blamed for cooperation with foreign entities, or accused of damaging the reputation or security of the state. I recently met with a group of human rights defenders from across south-east and south Asia about their experiences, which in some cases have been made worse by speaking out or if they share information with the UN. The stories about these reprisals were common – they have been charged with defamation, blasphemy and disinformation. They are increasingly threatened and targeted for their work, indeed some have been labeled as terrorists. There were also accusations of activists being drug addicts or mentally unwell.”

Revealing the Rainbow report sheds light on LGBTIQ rights in Southeast Asia: “One key point of the report is the disparity in the region’s support of the LGBTIQ community. Countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have all adopted laws in recent years providing greater rights and freedom for the LGBTIQ community. In one example, the report noted Vietnam’s recent law legalising gender recognition for transgender people undergoing sex reassignment surgery, which came into effect in January 2017. Khoa Nguyen, a human rights defender and community leader from Vietnam, was positive about the government’s role in providing greater rights for the LGBTIQ community. ‘I have seen a rapid change in our society,’ Nguyen stated in the interview featured in the report. ‘In the past, LGBT people faced many problems and they faced stigma and discrimination… [But now] there are more and more people being confident in their lives and they freely tell anyone about their sexuality.'”